2020
Re-live the action from 2020
Year in review
Table of contents
Highlights
2020 was the year the Covid-19 virus struck. Only the George Woods Introductory Rally was run before the first “lockdown” in mid March. The Mitta Mountain Rally was cancelled “at the last moment”. The HRA also held a very successful second iteration of their Rally Retro Festival, this time in Melbourne.
With lockdowns eased, the Valley Stages was able to run in November essentially as a non-championship event since both the VRC and VCRS were not awarded as a consequence of insufficient events.
The Classic Outback Trial was calendared but also postponed, ultimately until 2022.
Australian Rally Championship
The Eureka Rush was to be Victoria’s round of the Australian Rally Championship but it was cancelled along with most other ARC heats in other states. As a result, the ARC was not awarded for the first time since its inception in 1968.
Online Rallying
The lack of “on the road” rallies gave rise to numerous online “rallies”. Similar in concept to the Armchair Rallies often held in the past by car clubs at clubnights, the whole event was done indoors although at home rather than at a clubnight.
Thanks to Ian Richards for determining a process such events could use to allow competitors to record the locations they visited on a Google satellite view and lodge their completed map upon completion.
The major online rallies held during the year were the 2020 Jim Maude memorial e-Xperts Trial organised by Geoff Byron and the 2020 e-Bit of BP Rally organised by Ross Runnalls.
Series
Victorian Rally Championship
There were to be 7 VRC rounds in 2020 – Mitta Mountain Rally, Ada River Rally, Marysville Stages, Eureka Rush (also ARC), Valley Stages and Akademos. Only the Valley Stages ran, on a postponed date in November. The Rally of the Bay (NSW) was added to the championship (CONFIRM?) and ran on July 4 but this was not enough to achieve the minimum four rounds required to award the championship.
Victorian Club Rally Series
There were to be 6 VCRS events this year – Ada River Rally (also VRC), Victoria Cross Rally, Marysville Stages (also VRC), Nissan Nightmoves, Valley Stages (also VRC), Daryl Tunbridge Memorial Rally, Snowy Mountain Rally and North Eastern Rally. Only the Valley Stages ran on a postponed date in November.
HRA Rally Championship
This series was solely for members of the Historic Rally Association.
Other Events
George Woods Introductory Rally
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The Rally Calendar for this year:
| Date | Event | Club | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Feb | George Woods Introductory Rally | HRA | |
| 29 Feb | Rally Retro Festival | HRA | |
| 21 Mar | Mitta Mountain Rally (cancelled) | NECC/AWDCC | VRC-1 |
| 28 Mar | Wellsford Wander (cancelled) | HRA | |
| 18 Apr | Ada River Rally (cancelled) | WDCC | VRC-2, VCRS-1 |
| 2 May | Victoria Cross Rally (cancelled) | HRA | VCRS-2 |
| 23 May | Marysville Stages (cancelled) | FFCC | VRC-3, VCRS-3 |
| 20 Jun | Nissan Nightmoves (cancelled) | NCCA | VCRS-4 |
| 4 Jul | Rich River Revival (cancelled) | HRA | |
| 4 Jul | Rally of the Bay (cancelled?) | NSSCC | VRC-? |
| 22-23 Aug | Eureka Rush (cancelled) | Vrooom | ARC, VRC-4 |
| 9-12 Sep | Sunraysia Safari Rally (cancelled) | RMA | Open Cross Country |
| 20 Sep | Valley Stages (postponed to 29 Nov) | NCCA | VRC-5, VCRS-5 |
| 26 Sep | Tour of Gippsland (cancelled) | HRA | |
| 3 Oct | Daryl Tunbridge Memorial Trial (cancelled) | BLCC | VCRS-6 |
| 18 Oct | Akademos (cancelled) | MUCC | VRC-7 |
| 24 Oct | Bagshot Ralllysprint | HRA | Multi-club Rallysprint |
| 1-7 Nov | Classic Outback Trial (postponed to 2022) | COT | National SS |
| 7 Nov | Snowy Mountains Forest Rally (cancelled) | AWDCC | VCRS-7 |
| 21 Nov | North Eastern Rally (cancelled) | NECC | VCRS-8 |
| 29 Nov | Valley Stages | NCCA | VRC!, VCRS! |